Invisible Sun
by eosdawnaurora
Summary: Something about the girl Amon wanted Sasuke to hide, was dangerous. Hard-boiled, corny, incomplete.
1. Chapter 1

Under a hazy strip of mellow lights and polished wineglasses, Sasuke hunched against the bar and took another drink of his greyhound. Smoke drifted up from the cigarette twined in his fingers; he took a drag and exhaled heavily, irritated, the corners of his mouth pulling down. Whoever it was that Amon sent, they were ten minutes late. He disliked that the man's message had been so vague.

At least he could see out onto the street from where he sat. Soon, a checker-sided cab stopped in front of the pub.

A woman got out, small, blonde, dressed in black. Her hair was bound back in a loose french twist. He couldn't pin an age on her at all. She could have been anywhere between fifteen and thirty, tiny and narrow enough that he thought a stiff wind might knock her down. From the way she walked, taking cautious strides in conservative heels, he decided she was used to being pursued.

He shifted on the stool and glanced over his shoulder as the door squeaked open. She had to be the "bird" Amon mentioned. Perhaps he was strange for being surprised that it actually was a woman and not a man carrying a caged animal walking up behind him, taking the stool next to his. Sasuke crushed out his cigarette and sat up straight.

"Traffic?" he mumbled. The scent she wore was subtle, expensive – sweet but not floral, exquisitely feminine. Under that though... smoke, the kind off heavy odor that came from the ash of immolated flesh and burning buildings. The moment their eyes met, he felt a resonance with her, consumed by green eyes that flashed with fire and dark knowledge. Sasuke felt his skin prickle, and he had to look away, using his drink as a cover for his unease. Something about her made him want to forget this was business.

"No, the driver was unfamiliar with this area. And he had to make sure we weren't being followed." Her accent was Italian, though she seemed to have a good grasp of English, at least as good as his own. Her voice was pitched low, almost a whisper, and had a soft husky quality to it.

"What's your name?"

"You can call me Eve," she said. He was fairly certain it wasn't her real name. It definitely wasn't the plain, gender-neutral one Nagira had told him. "You've made the arrangements, Mr. -"

"Uchiha. You'll have to wait a few days while they paint and replace the carpet, but yeah. It's a quiet street, rent's paid for a year, and it's furnished." He imagined she had come to this city for reasons similar to his own. He didn't know why, but the name she told him was ringing alarm bells in the back of his head. He dismissed it as his normal paranoia.

"I see," she said and shook her head at the short, mustached bartender as he started to ask her what she would like.

"I have an extra room at my flat you can use until then." He'd keep an eye on her, not liking to consider what Amon might do if something happened to someone he was putting so much effort into hiding. The man was careful and thorough, and very, very dangerous to fuck with. They had a lot in common, but that guy, he probably had the coldest eyes Sasuke had ever seen. That and he could make the earth open up and swallow you.

If Amon hadn't saved his life, hadn't pointed him to Shunji Nagira, Sasuke knew he'd probably be dead. Cut down like a dog by the witch hunters, crushed or burnt or drowned.

Not only did Sasuke want to repay his debt, he was interested in developing his abilities. He wanted to be able to protect himself and when necessary, protect others. He'd already lost enough friends and family to the hunters, and wasn't afraid to admit his desire for revenge burned a little stronger every day. Amon and Nagira had offered him a way to fight back, and he had little choice but to take them up on it.

"My car's parked around the corner," he said, moving to stand up.

He watched as she quickly traced two runes on the counter with her finger, while the bartender's back was turned. They glowed faintly for a moment and disappeared. Raising an eyebrow at Eve, Sasuke didn't say anything but stood and buttoned his coat.

"Misdirection and forgetfulness, nothing more. It will last until someone wipes the counter down for the night," she reassured, as he held the door. He had some experience with runes, but lacking a teacher, much of it was guesswork.

"Provided they remember to do it," Sasuke said dryly, with a smirk on his lips.

She blinked at him, and made the barest slightest chuckle he'd ever heard. It didn't even leave her mouth, but her eyes smiled. Everything she'd done so far was like this, restrained and faint, controlled to the point of suffocation - except that fire in her eyes. Eve reminded him in that way a little of his brother before he'd died.

In silence they walked into the cool March wind, which picked up a little as they turned the corner, blowing black tendrils into his face. Daylight was fading, she'd probably want dinner. He'd call out for delivery, maybe Italian or Thai depending on what she liked.

Near the back of a small poorly-lit parking lot, the keys jingled against his hand as he disarmed and unlocked his black Mustang with the remote; he opened the passenger side for her. The ride was short and quiet. It was Saturday so there weren't a too many other cars. Eve was looking out the window the whole time.

He had a sense that both of them were waiting for a sudden explosion or the clear sky to cloud over and deluge them in a torrent of rain and lightning, for the windshield to crack. None of these things happened though. The only sounds were of the motor and the air rushing softly through the vents. He was used to other people doing the talking for him, so it was almost odd to meet someone as quiet as he was. He was starting to feel the urge to ask questions.

Questions were dangerous. If Amon had wanted to him to know anything more, he would have told him. Eve must have an absurd amount of confidence in Amon's judgment though, that she wasn't asking anything of him yet - a strange man in a strange country. He'd known this woman for less than fifteen minutes and he was already having doubts as to whether he should have replied to that e-mail two weeks ago.

Things were heating up in the underground, and if rumor had it, the SOLOMON organization was poised for a fall. There was one witch who always topped SOLOMON's wanted list, followed only by the witch known as Amon.

Sasuke pulled into the garage that made up most of the first floor of his building, an old but well-maintained Art Deco edifice, and parked in the spot corresponding with the number of the flat he was renting – 215. Her place would be on the fourth floor, once it was ready.

Twisting his mouth, trying to figure out how to word what might be his first and last question, he turned off the engine but didn't get out.

"You're her aren't you?" he said, wanting to curse a blue streak. Damn him. What the hell was that bastard thinking? And how could he have been so stupid not to catch on? _Bird_. Fuck.

She didn't say anything, but her eyes widened, lips parting slightly.

"You're Robin," he said.


	2. Chapter 2

Once "Eve" was settled in her apartment, Sasuke was left at a bit of a loss. There was no communication from her benefactor, at least none directed towards him. Robin didn't have much with her, but she did own a phone. He'd seen her texting on it with delicate fingers, but she never shared what she wrote or received. She was unperturbed and that was all that mattered. All he had to do was help her lay low, watch for trouble, watch her back until something changed.

Not as easy as it sounded - Robin was an active person. She took two walks every day, one walk in the morning to do her morning meditations at a nearby church and another in the evening to the small park on the lake shore not far from their building. Sasuke accompanied her, as he was no stranger to healthful exercise. She liked to take her time though, whereas he preferred a good jog before work.

This morning in particular he'd sworn she had the intention of traversing every inch of sidewalk available inside the park just to make him late. They'd found a bench and were watching the morning sun dance and scatter on the water, as the ducks and the geese went gliding by like the passing cars visible on the road in the distance. It was cold, but the arctic blasts that often came down hard over the lake weren't in force today.

Sasuke realized at some point in the past three weeks, that he lit up around her more often than he did alone. It came down to needing something to do with his hands. He wasn't sure if Robin minded if he smoked. She didn't say as much, but her expression, her body language didn't change if he shuffled in his coat pocket for a cigarette. Robin had the Mona Lisa smile down to an art. In real life that sort of thing was as annoying as it was intriguing.

He knew what he wanted to ask her, and damn it, he was going to ask. But maybe not today. Today they were staring out over the water, which was as calm and as placid as her face. From the corner of his eye he could see her mouth slide from a gentle swell, to form a firm line.

Uncertain and again nervous, curious of what she wasn't telling him, Sasuke shifted, leaning forward elbows on knees. "What is it?" he asked.

"You've been very kind, Mr. Uchiha," she said.

"Your friend did me a big favor, I'm just paying him back." Should he have asked her to use his first name? Would she have felt comfortable with something like that. Things like determining the nature of relationships were strange in this country, and he thought Japan was much more civilized in that respect. He found himself adapting to the customs over the years though, enough that her formality almost felt jarring. A necessary distance, oddly enough a welcome one.

"Still. This hasn't been an easy time for us. I'm glad you're the one helping me." By 'us' he assumed Robin meant herself and Amon. "You're putting yourself in a great deal of danger. I wonder if you even know how much."

"Did Amon tell you anything about me before he sent you?"

"No. Nagira said that I could trust you. Amon doesn't say needless things." Her mouth turned up a little as she mentioned this, like she was remembering something fondly.

Sasuke laughed. "Sounds like he hasn't changed at all. You've probably heard stories - I know you were a hunter once. My family was full of them. Hunters. We got too strong though, and SOLOMON decided it would be easy for us to go rogue."

"They betrayed your whole family?" It was more a statement than a question. SOLOMON regarded craft users as guilty until proven innocent, and often they didn't bother to have a trial before removing the perceived threat.

"Something like that. I killed the man who hunted them," he said, surprised how calm he felt admitting it.

"I see. It's never easy. To have blood on your hands."

"You have fire, right?" This woman had killed. Immolated was a better word perhaps. This was the life they'd been driven to. Or that they'd chosen. It would have been easy enough to just let SOLOMON take him, put him down like a deranged beast.

"It's what I'm best with, I think. I've learned to access other elements, but fire was the first and I'm still strongest with it." It was difficult to believe such a small person could hold so much power. If rumor was to be believed, Robin had every element at her disposal, all the secrets of the craft all written into her being.

Sasuke fancied her fire must warm her from the inside; a calm, steady controlled burn. His own craft had only ever left him empty, cold and wanting – craving to use it again, sometimes even when there was no reason to. The only thing that held him back in those moments, was the fact he couldn't fight SOLOMON if he lost himself in the haze of a power-drunk episode.

"We should get back," he said. As much as he wanted to draw this out, losing his job would not be conductive to his further ambitions. He was managing to straddle two worlds at the moment, passing as human, passing as an innocuous worker drone at a security firm. Part of his usefulness to Amon lay in this fact.

She nodded, and they walked back at a pace which he found acceptable, though he knew he was still going to be at least twenty minutes late. They parted at the base of the stairs that splayed in front of their building.

"We'll talk more tonight," Robin said, hands folded in front of her.

He nodded, and watched her back, her careful gait. He was out of cigarettes. As he walked toward the garage he thought maybe he'd quit. Casual addiction just wasn't cutting it anymore. He had a feeling if he was going to continue to support her he'd need every ounce of his resolve. Anything else was a distraction.

Inside of his pocket he felt his phone vibrate. One new e-mail. The sender name wasn't familiar, but this account didn't get spam. Amon.


End file.
